Hannah’s journey began by completing a degree in Events Management from Leeds University. This led to her first job as an events officer for British Swimming working across various disciplines which provided her initial introduction into Para Sport. Hannah then worked across several multisport games including the Invictus Games in Sydney, Australia and the Commonwealth Games.
During this time, Hannah said that meeting the athletes, hearing their stories, and understanding their background really sparked her interest in continuing work in the Para Sport space. Hannah started as Kit Manager at ParalympicsGB in December 2018 in readiness for Tokyo 2020. Her role has since evolved, and she is now one of two Games Operations Managers at ParalympicsGB.
Hannah described the operations team as “doing everything that is required to physically take a team to the games” and includes organising things such as travel, transport, branding, accommodation, logistics, procurement etc. Hannah wears many hats within her role, but still has sole responsibility for delivering the kit and kitting out process. ParalympicsGB is one of the only National Paralympic Committee’s that deal with both the village and training wear as well as competition wear making “Kit” an enormous project. Hannah talked us through what goes on behind the scenes regarding kit to ensure our ParalympicsGB delegation are looking and feeling their best for the games.
The kit process primarily sits within the operations team but there is also an organisation-wide contribution to the planning and delivery of kit/Kitting Out. In a collaborative effort alongside TeamGB, a design brief is submitted to Adidas considering the look, feel and design of the clothes as well as other factors including the climate of the host nation. ParalympicsGB try to ensure kit is suitable for all potential impairments, aiming to cater for everyone’s needs as well as their sport. Orders for kit are placed ~1 year in advance of the games and once this task is complete, preparations for the Kitting Out event are in full swing.
Kitting Out
Ahead of the games, we host an event where every member of our delegation can come to Kitting out, try on all their adidas kit and make sure it fits before they depart to the Games”.
Hannah highlighted that ParalympicsGB strive to create a special experience at Kitting Out for the delegation to build a real team environment and generate a buzz in the lead up to the Games. This year’s Kitting Out was the first time the ParalympicsGB delegation could try on their kit and take it home the same day.
During Kitting Out, over 650 members of the delegation went through a personal shopping experience in a specially designed show room with accessible changing rooms to try on all of their kit. Whilst their kit was being picked and packed in the warehouse, the team had the opportunity to relax, take part in partner activations/games and photobooths until their kit bag was ready for collection. They then finished with an Aldi checkout experience to wish them well and send them on their way to Paris.
ParalympicsGB has hosted the last two Kitting Out events at 天堂视频. Hannah commented that this is partly due to its very central location in the UK but also due the extensive network, enthusiasm and willingness of 天堂视频 staff and students to volunteer at the event.
The team behind the team is critical. We could not run Kitting out without the volunteers. We had a really positive response with 375 volunteers across the whole event, primarily coming from the university. We had ~35 volunteers a day with roles ranging from personal shoppers, front of house team and warehouse assistants. Without all those people, the event simply would not be possible, and we are really grateful for the support from all of our volunteers.”
Our RA, Tash, has been working part-time on a secondment with ParalympicsGB and was heavily involved in the delivery of Kitting Out. Tash has given us her thoughts on her experience with Kitting Out and the team at ParalympicsGB:
Working on the Kitting Out project was an incredible experience for me and truly eye-opening to see how much hard work and dedication goes on behind the scenes to make all of it possible. Within my time with the Kit team, I helped behind the scenes with scheduling the volunteers and helping deliver the volunteer training. I was then lucky enough to be able to contribute to the delivery of the Kitting out event. I got to be part of the Front of House team, tried my hand as a personal shopper and also took on the responsibility of back of house manager during my time at Kitting Out.
I can’t thank Hannah and the rest of the team at ParalympicsGB enough for giving me the opportunity to be involved in such an exciting and rewarding event for everyone heading out to Paris. It was amazing to see how well received this event was by the whole delegation and the excitement it created amongst athletes and staff.”
Hannah will be on the ground in Paris as the ‘Deputy Head of Out of Village Operations’ and will be working to ensure everyone has a seamless transition into and out of the Games. She will also continue to oversee the kit and deal with any swaps and challenges that may be faced during the games.
We asked Hannah what she is most looking forwards to in Paris…
I am really looking forwards to seeing a games with spectators! Seeing that buzz around the city, stadiums full of people and we also have a lot of guest programmes and ParalympicsGB House which I am really looking forwards to see in operation.”
Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us, Hannah and Tash! The kit looks incredible and we can’t wait to see everyone in action in Paris!